


A Backup for the Backup Plan

by Psiiconic



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Fix It, Gen, I mean c’mon he grew up knowing Pryde so he knew how the guy worked, M/M, No relationships at this time but Hux/Mitaka if you very gently squint, TRoS Spoilers, The Rise of Skywalker Fix it, currently just what you see on the tin, hux lives au, my boy was done dirty and I refuse to believe he didn’t guess how things were gonna go, potential for rating and chapters to change and expand idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:01:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21987841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psiiconic/pseuds/Psiiconic
Summary: Armitage Hux is a dead man. A paranoid dead man.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 40





	A Backup for the Backup Plan

Armitage Hux was a dead man. 

The First Order’s records would list him as terminated for treason, as well they should. Red hair stood out in a sickening shock of color against a dark and shining floor, the cold surface of the  _Steadfast’s_ bridge stained with a sluggish splatter of crimson blood; a bridge lieutenant scurried forward and beckoned two troopers to his side. “Allegiant General, what should be done with this?” 

The young officer’s voice shook slightly, fearful, and Allegiant General Pryde carelessly flicked nonexistent dust from his uniform. “Throw it in a trash chute for all I care, Lieutenant.” His attention shifted to another officer, at attention nearby. “Has Lord Ren received the transmission?” 

“Yes Sir.” 

The lieutenant kept his head down, the Stormtroopers behind him grabbing the body by the arms and legs and lifting it. A pale, limp hand dropped a slender cane to the floor with a clatter, and the lieutenant scooped up the offending implement, carrying it in both hands. 

He hurried behind the stormtroopers, one hand on the curved handle of the cane and the other secured around the almost delicate core. The troopers carried the former General’s body down the corridor that snaked away from the bridge, propping him up in the turbolift that led down to the common levels where trash receptacles waited on every corner. The last of Armitage Hux would come in the form of his feet in a garbage chute. 

Well. Perhaps it would have had the Lieutenant not drawn a delicate, silently shimmering vibrorapier from the former leader’s cane and driven it through both Stormtrooper’s helmets in a single instant. 

They dropped, and so did the General-but he landed on a Stormtrooper and said “Ow”, scrambling to one side and grimacing as he attempted to stand. 

The vibrorapier was hurriedly sheathed, and Lieutenant Mitaka reached down to grab Hux by the hand and pull. Hux staggered as he rose to his feet, breathing labored and his brilliant hair hanging in his face. 

“How much time do we have?” 

“Minutes, if that. The only option we have is a fighter, but we should be able to make it to the surface of the closest planet before we run out of fuel.” The lieutenant’s brow furrowed with worry as he handed over the cane.

“And Millie?” 

“Sleeping in her cage, hidden in the closest fighter bay. We’re lucky she didn’t put up a fight.” 

“Wonderful,” Hux grimaced as he rested his weight on the cane, blood spreading a little further across the quick bandage. They had no time to lose, and no time to heal his leg. “You know, this is hardly what I pictured our parts in the war to be.” He prodded a dead Stormtrooper aside with the tip of the cane. 

“Lucky you’re so paranoid.” 

“Lucky I wear beskar, you mean. Let’s get out of here before _Allegiant General Pryde_ finds out.” 

“You wore the beskar because you were paranoid,” the lieutenant retorted, his brown eyes narrowing as the turbolift came to a halt. “Listen, let me help you to the fighter. We’re faster together, I can’t let you fall behind.” 

“Nonsense,” Hux huffed. “I can limp quick enough to make it. I’ve also worn a layer of beskar under a padded vest for years. It helped my figure.” 

He gamely started forwards through the hall, counting on the relative inattention of the rank and file to the activities on the Bridge to keep them moving. As predicted, no troopers or officers halted them-but it was at the sight of the fighter bay that he paused. “Can we really make it in...one of them?” 

“Of course we can,” Mitaka hissed. “You sit in the gunner seat with Millie’s cage and use your sharp eyes if there’s trouble. I drive. I already handled the security of leaving.” The lieutenant let a dark card appear out of one sleeve-a slicer’s scramble key. 

“Brilliant. And you destroyed your own equipment?” 

“It should self-destruct a few minutes after we depart. It’ll distract a fair amount of men and there won’t be anything left. I primed my datapad to blow up after it wipes itself.” 

Hux gave a nod and held his breath as a pair of troopers walked past, before drawing himself up and grabbing the cage nestled behind a trash receptacle. He could see a furry, fuzzy orange shape inside it, and carefully held it in his free hand as he limped to the hatch of the fighter. Pilots and gunners typically entered a TIE from the base, not the top. In an emergency, if the fighter was planetside, it was actually safer to eject feet-first.   


He reached up to put Millicent’s cage on the seat above him, then gamely grabbed the short ladder and forced himself up it; his entire body ached with the dispersed shock of a shot that should have killed him, the blaster bolt weakened by several layers of reinforced fabric and a final layer of thin, incredibly strong beskar. It had been enough to absorb the shot, but he could feel the pain of a ripe bruise forming on his sternum. 

He shifted into the gunner’s seat, settling Millicent’s weight on his lap. She let out a mew as he did, and he shushed her as he tried to settle the vibrocane. This would only work if they were undetected. 

Mitaka hoisted himself up into the pilot’s seat as well. The decision to double up on TIE personnel had been a compensatory one, after the realization that many old Imperial TIEs had been shot down from behind. While the pilot could still shoot, the gunner’s seat served as a backup defense as well as an offensive choice. As Mitaka moved up, his officer’s hat fell to the floor under his feet. His dark hair blended with the tinted color of the fighter’s windows, and he didn’t bother grabbing the hat as he settled down. Wherever they were headed, it wasn’t needed any longer. 

“Put the cane on the floor. If we die we won’t need it.” He started strapping himself in and booting up the fighter. “I have us on a scheduled patrol. I created a pair of troopers in the system for us to use as decoys. Your number is AK-1977, don’t forget it.” 

“So we fly with the patrol, and peel off when we get close to the planet?” 

“That’s our best shot.” 

“Then let’s get out of this ship.” 

The hum of engines coming to life was terrifying, soothing, and awe-inducing from the inside-and Hux breathed out in a rush. 

_ ‘This is TJ-2943 standing by for launch.’  _

_ ‘AD-1519 standing by.’ _

_ “ _ KP-7973 standing by,” Mitaka said sharply. 

“AK-1997 standing by,” Hux said, taking care to drop his voice into a slightly deeper register and alter his accent just slightly.

The remainder of the patrol reported in, and Hux’s heart thudded in his ears as he waited for the inevitable, for someone to catch on-and then they were moving, powering out of the fighter bay like it was nothing. 

Maybe they could really do this. He watched the _Steadfast_ grow small in the back viewport of the fighter, his eyes jumping from the ship to each of the partner fighters on the patrol. 

“We’re making a turn around the ship. We’ve got ten seconds of lead time to start our descent and we might have to go dark. Ready?” 

“As I’ll ever be, Dopheld.” 

“Don’t pull any triggers, Armitage.” 

First names. They hadn’t been on a first name basis since they’d both been teenagers. As the fighter squad turned sharply and he watched their own indicator on the screen blink out of existence, he felt his stomach sink. He would never be General Hux again. 

He’d just be Armitage. 

Eventually, it became obvious that not even the patrol had noticed their flight as they broke atmosphere on the planet below. He didn’t really know where they were, only that this particular planet was sympathetic to the First Order. They could ride out the rest of the war here if they had to, though he would need to be careful not to be recognized, and there were enough crime lords to make the large cities dangerous. 

At least he would be free. 

“Armitage? Armitage. Kriff, are you listening to me?” 

“Hm?” 

“Ugh.” Mitaka rolled his eyes. “So what are we going to do? I can’t imagine you want to help the Resistance.” 

“No, I don’t. I want to survive. We stay hidden until someone wins, even if that takes years. Then, we either come forward to the Resistance if they win, or we disappear into the Outer Rim once the Emperor has succeeded. Those are the only options we have.” Hux grabbed for the vibrocane as the fighter set down in a stand of trees. 

“By the time we make our way out of this forest we’ll barely look human, let alone like officers. We should burn the fighter once we destroy the tracking module, perhaps take some of the more valuable parts out. I have plenty of Order credits on me-at least enough to buy us lodging for a few days and perhaps enough for a small old ship. We’ll see.” He scooped Millie up off his lap, gingerly lifting himself down with the aid of the cane and placing the cat’s cage on the seat. “You don’t have to stay.” 

Mitaka slid out of the fighter with ease. “With all due respect, don’t be an idiot. I’m staying with you.” 

Hux smiled for what was likely the first time in years-a real smile, not a sardonic and superior smirk. “Good. I’m glad.” 

He dug the foot of his cane into soft loam, picked up his cat, and started to limp through the earth for the first time since Crait-where his values had been questioned, and he’d come out a different man than he had gone in. 

  
  
  



End file.
